Crowdog
06-17-2005, 08:15 AM
Off-roaders still fuming about proposed county rules
By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
WINE COUNTRY ---- When 5-year-old Seth Gibson graduated from kindergarten Wednesday night, the children in his class were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"He wanted to be a professional motocross rider," said his mother, Christine Gibson.
The Gibson family lives on 5 acres in Wine Country, where all three of the children still at home ride both horses and dirt bikes. Soon, they will be able to ride horses every day, but motorcycles on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only.
"I didn't buy that property for someone to tell me which days my kids could ride and which days they could not," Gibson said.
Someone is about to tell her just that.
For many months, Riverside County planners have been polishing and rewriting an ordinance that aims to quell a growing dispute in unincorporated communities of the county between noisy riders and their neighbors who want peace and quiet. The latest version of the measure was released this week, and it still is built around a controversial provision that limits off-roading on private property to three days of the week.
The draft, if passed, would bar riding all day on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, as well as on other days before 8 a.m. and after nightfall. Nightfall is defined as 6 p.m. in winter and 7 p.m. in summer.
"My children are going to become criminals because they ride in their front yard on Mondays," Gibson said.
The day-of-the-week restriction and other provisions are scheduled to be aired July 6 in a hearing before the Riverside County Planning Commission.
"We're still trying to come to some sort of compromise between the riding community and the nonriding community," said Deputy Planning Director Mark Balys. "It comes down to the question of, how do you achieve peace and quiet in some of these areas?"
Planners have been leaning on a 23-member committee composed of people on both sides of the fence to help them fashion a compromise, but that has proven difficult, Balys said. For that reason, he said, the county is proposing an admittedly arbitrary system that would let riders play some days and require them to leave their dirt bikes in the garage on others, so their neighbors can enjoy peace and quiet.
"We're just saying that on certain days you can't ride," he said. "That's going to be a touchy issue. But that makes it pretty black and white as to what should occur."
Balys said the day-of-the-week rule would make it clear to off-roaders when they could ride, and clear to sheriff's deputies when they should cite people for violations.
The latest rewrite also would:
n Require families to own at least 2.5 acres before they could ride off-road vehicles on their properties. A minimum of 5 acres was required in earlier versions.
n Limit the number of riders at a time to two on properties ranging from 2.5 acres to 10 acres, three on parcels between 10 acres and 20 acres, and four for all larger properties. A family would have to obtain a conditional-use permit to allow five or more people to ride at the same time.
n Mandate that riders stay at least 50 feet away from neighbors' property lines and 200 feet from the nearest houses.
Balys said he personally believes that properties need to be 5 acres or bigger to adequately separate riders from neighbors, but planners reduced the ownership requirement because of widespread opposition from the riding community.
The day-of-the-week restriction and minimum-lot-size rules aside, off-roaders are kicking up dust over the limits for how many can ride at a time.
Kim Cervantes, who also lives in the Wine Country, said she is concerned because she has three children, ages 13, 10 and 8, who enjoy riding, and only two of them will be able to tool around the family's five-acre spread at a given moment.
"I'm going to have to say, 'I'm sorry, only two of you can go. The other has to stay here.' It's just silly," Cervantes said. "I don't think the neighbors around us are affected by the use of off-road vehicles on our property. Our 5-acre parcel is plenty large enough to support my three children on their quads and dirt bikes."
Gibson predicted a lengthy upcoming meeting.
"It's really going to be a big, big battle," she said. "I don't think this meeting on the 6th is going to be the end of it."
Balys said the discussion of the off-road ordinance is not likely to begin until after 3 p.m. July 6. The commission meets in the first-floor auditorium of the County Administrative Center, 4080 Lemon St., Riverside.
Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or ddowney@californian.com.
By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
WINE COUNTRY ---- When 5-year-old Seth Gibson graduated from kindergarten Wednesday night, the children in his class were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"He wanted to be a professional motocross rider," said his mother, Christine Gibson.
The Gibson family lives on 5 acres in Wine Country, where all three of the children still at home ride both horses and dirt bikes. Soon, they will be able to ride horses every day, but motorcycles on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only.
"I didn't buy that property for someone to tell me which days my kids could ride and which days they could not," Gibson said.
Someone is about to tell her just that.
For many months, Riverside County planners have been polishing and rewriting an ordinance that aims to quell a growing dispute in unincorporated communities of the county between noisy riders and their neighbors who want peace and quiet. The latest version of the measure was released this week, and it still is built around a controversial provision that limits off-roading on private property to three days of the week.
The draft, if passed, would bar riding all day on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, as well as on other days before 8 a.m. and after nightfall. Nightfall is defined as 6 p.m. in winter and 7 p.m. in summer.
"My children are going to become criminals because they ride in their front yard on Mondays," Gibson said.
The day-of-the-week restriction and other provisions are scheduled to be aired July 6 in a hearing before the Riverside County Planning Commission.
"We're still trying to come to some sort of compromise between the riding community and the nonriding community," said Deputy Planning Director Mark Balys. "It comes down to the question of, how do you achieve peace and quiet in some of these areas?"
Planners have been leaning on a 23-member committee composed of people on both sides of the fence to help them fashion a compromise, but that has proven difficult, Balys said. For that reason, he said, the county is proposing an admittedly arbitrary system that would let riders play some days and require them to leave their dirt bikes in the garage on others, so their neighbors can enjoy peace and quiet.
"We're just saying that on certain days you can't ride," he said. "That's going to be a touchy issue. But that makes it pretty black and white as to what should occur."
Balys said the day-of-the-week rule would make it clear to off-roaders when they could ride, and clear to sheriff's deputies when they should cite people for violations.
The latest rewrite also would:
n Require families to own at least 2.5 acres before they could ride off-road vehicles on their properties. A minimum of 5 acres was required in earlier versions.
n Limit the number of riders at a time to two on properties ranging from 2.5 acres to 10 acres, three on parcels between 10 acres and 20 acres, and four for all larger properties. A family would have to obtain a conditional-use permit to allow five or more people to ride at the same time.
n Mandate that riders stay at least 50 feet away from neighbors' property lines and 200 feet from the nearest houses.
Balys said he personally believes that properties need to be 5 acres or bigger to adequately separate riders from neighbors, but planners reduced the ownership requirement because of widespread opposition from the riding community.
The day-of-the-week restriction and minimum-lot-size rules aside, off-roaders are kicking up dust over the limits for how many can ride at a time.
Kim Cervantes, who also lives in the Wine Country, said she is concerned because she has three children, ages 13, 10 and 8, who enjoy riding, and only two of them will be able to tool around the family's five-acre spread at a given moment.
"I'm going to have to say, 'I'm sorry, only two of you can go. The other has to stay here.' It's just silly," Cervantes said. "I don't think the neighbors around us are affected by the use of off-road vehicles on our property. Our 5-acre parcel is plenty large enough to support my three children on their quads and dirt bikes."
Gibson predicted a lengthy upcoming meeting.
"It's really going to be a big, big battle," she said. "I don't think this meeting on the 6th is going to be the end of it."
Balys said the discussion of the off-road ordinance is not likely to begin until after 3 p.m. July 6. The commission meets in the first-floor auditorium of the County Administrative Center, 4080 Lemon St., Riverside.
Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or ddowney@californian.com.